2386 Half-step Grotto-heaven Not far away, a cold man in black armor flew through the air with dozens of cultivators behind him. There were three Perfected Fiend experts and the rest were Heaven Immortals. Under the Hell Suppression Tripod, Gu Tongyou recognized the background of these people and hurriedly sent a voice transmission with his spirit consciousness to remind the Martial Dao Prime Body, “Sect Master Desolate Martial, watch out. These should be cultivators of the Black Fiend Sect.” “Black Fiend Sect is a heaven-grade faction in the heartland of the Fiend Domain. It’s said that Sect Master Fiendcelestial Black Heaven has already cultivated to the peak of Grotto-heaven and is extremely strong. He’s an Overlord of the heartland!” “Black Fiend Sect!” Yan Zui, who was on the brink of despair, recognized the group of them right away when he saw their attire and the badge on their waists. A look of hope flashed through his eyes. “Save me! Fellow Daoists of Black Fiend Sect, please save me!” Yan Zui said hurriedly. The Martial Dao Prime Body raised his head and glanced at the group of people walking over. He ignored them and merely said indifferently, “Nobody can save you today.” Before his sentence was finished, the Martial Dao Prime Body raised his hand gently and a scarlet flame burst forth from his fingertip, piercing into Yan Zui’s glabella like a sharp sword! “Stop!” When the leader of Black Fiend Sect saw the Martial Dao Prime Body raise his hand, he shouted hurriedly to stop the latter. However, it was too late. Pfft! Yan Zui’s glabella was pierced and his consciousness was burned. His Essence Spirit was destroyed and he died on the spot! “How dare you!” From Black Fiend Sect, a Perfected Fiend stood out and pointed at the Martial Dao Prime Body, shouting, “Protector Zong Yan has already told you to stop, didn’t you hear him?!” “You must have a death wish!” Another Perfected Fiend narrowed his eyes and strode forward with a murderous expression. The leader of Black Fiend Sect, the man named Zong Yan, raised his hand slightly and stopped the two Perfected Fiends behind him from advancing. A look of pity flashed through Zong Yan’s eyes as he looked at Yan Zui’s corpse. No matter what, Yan Zui was once the Supreme Perfected Fiend and had the highest chance of entering the Grotto-heaven realm. If he could save Yan Zui and make the latter submit to Black Fiend Sect, he would definitely become a great help to the Sect Master. Now that he was dead, it was a pity. However, since the purple-robed man with the silver mask could kill Yan Zui, it meant that he was even stronger than Yan Zui! If he could subdue this person, it would make up for the loss of Yan Zui’s death. Only, Zong Yan’s spirit consciousness scanned the Martial Dao Prime Body multiple times but could not see through the latter’s background. However, when the Martial Dao Prime Body attacked earlier on and the remnant aura on the battlefield, he could roughly deduce that the purple-robed man should be a Perfected One realm cultivator. Zong Yan took another look at Feng Cantian who was breaking through beneath the Hell Suppression Tripod and thought to himself, “The Sect Master is truly amazing. Before Feng Cantian even broke through successfully, he sensed an abnormal fluctuation coming from here.” Feng Cantian was at the critical point of his breakthrough and Zong Yan did not disturb him. If Feng Cantian succeeded in his breakthrough, he would take out the Sect Master Badge of Fiendcelestial Black Heaven and bring Feng Cantian back. “I’m Zong Yan, a protector of Black Fiend Sect.” Zong Yan looked at the Martial Dao Prime Body and asked in a deep voice, “What’s your name?” “Desolate Martial.” The Martial Dao Prime Body replied casually and did not say anything more. Turning around, he tidied up the battlefield and put away the Dao Fruits of Yan Zui, Fairy Purple River and the others. The Dao Fruits contained their respective Dharmic Daos and the essence of their cultivation. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢 Dao Fruits were great tonics for any Perfected One realm cultivators. They were rare cultivation resources and were the most precious! The Martial Dao Prime Body smelted all Dharmic arts and Dao Fruits were of great help to him as well. Furthermore, refining those Dao Fruits could also refine the True Martial Dao Body. As a half-step Grotto-heaven expert, it was already useless for Zong Yan to devour and refine Dao Fruits. However, the eyes of the three Perfected Fiends behind him lit up with greed. “Protector, look…” A Perfected Fiend said softly. Zong Yan’s expression was indifferent and he was in no hurry. After the Martial Dao Prime Body collected all the Dao Fruits, Zong Yan said, “Desolate Martial, hand over the Dao Fruits and the few Pure Yang Spirit Treasures to me. You can keep the other treasures for yourself.” “Oh?” The Martial Dao Prime Body raised his brow slightly. “You don’t understand?” Zong Yan’s lips curled into a cold sneer as he declared loudly, “The entire world belongs to the king and your location belongs to the territory of Black Fiend Sect! All the treasures in the territory belong to Black Fiend Sect and anyone who obtains them will have to hand them over!” “The fact that I didn’t ask you to hand over all the treasures you obtained is already a special gift for you.” The Martial Dao Prime Body was expressionless as he asked, “And if I refuse?” Zong Yan laughed. The three Perfected Fiends and dozens of Heaven Immortals behind him roared in laughter as well. Did this Perfected Fiend before them want to go against a massive entity like Black Fiend Sect? That was akin to striking a stone with an egg, a mantis trying to stop a chariot! “Do you really think that you’re invincible just because you killed Yan Zui and the others?” Zong Yan walked towards the Martial Dao Prime Body and shook his head. “Seems like it’s time to dampen your spirit and let you see who’s the true master of this territory!” Zong Yan strode forward and attacked first. Suddenly, a pitch-black iron truncheon appeared in his palm and smashed towards the head of the Martial Dao Prime Body! The truncheon was extremely powerful and ferocious. The Martial Dao Prime Body did not dodge or avoid and punched! Bang! The iron truncheon struck the fist of the Martial Dao Prime Body with a dull sound of defeat. The Martial Dao Prime Body frowned slightly and took half a step back! The void behind Zong Yan caved in slightly. However, no Grotto-heaven appeared; there was only a blurry phantom of a Grotto-heaven! A half-step Grotto-heaven! Over the years, the Martial Dao Prime Body had browsed through many ancient books and secret skills. There were detailed records of the half-step Grotto-heaven. To be precise, a half-step Grotto-heaven could not be considered as a realm of its own. When a Dao Fruit shatters, the immense power released could be used to break through the void outside of the body, opening up a chamber that could reach the heavens. However, the process was filled with danger and uncertainty! If the Dao Fruit was not strong enough and the Dharmic Dao was not condensed enough, there was a high chance that the Dao Fruit would shatter and fail to open up a Grotto-heaven. If the Dao Fruit was shattered without any Grotto-heaven formed, that would be equivalent to one’s entire cultivation being destroyed overnight! Therefore, during the breakthrough process, if a cultivator’s strength is depleted and they sensed that something was amiss and they only had a slim chance of opening up a Grotto-heaven, they could choose to settle for second best. They could make use of the power produced by the shattered Dao Fruit to condense a Grotto-heaven phantom. That could be considered as having taken a half-step into the Grotto-heaven realm and the cultivator would have already come into contact with the power of the Grotto-heaven as well—that was the half-step Grotto-heaven! There were two benefits to a half-step Grotto-heaven. First, because one had already come into contact with the Grotto-heaven realm, their lifespans could increase exponentially to more than a million years. Second, a half-step Grotto-heaven could release a trace of Grotto-heaven power. Although it was only a trace, in terms of strength, it surpassed True Essence and could crush Perfected One realm experts! However, there was also a single reason why many cultivators refused to choose the half-step Grotto-heaven realm. If they chose to settle for second best and stayed at the half-step Grotto-heaven realm, they would never be able to advance to the true Grotto-heaven realm! That was because the Dao Fruit was already shattered and turned into a Grotto-heaven phantom. The cultivators would not have sufficient strength to support themselves to open up another chamber that led to the heavens. Therefore, although there was no Heavenly Tribulation when cultivators tried to break through to the Grotto-heaven realm, it was accompanied by immense danger! They could either choose the half-step Grotto-heaven realm and have no hope of being conferred the title of king for the rest of their lives. Or… they could focus on breaking through the barrier of the Grotto-heaven realm without retreating. If they failed, their cultivation would be destroyed and they would fall from grace, becoming one with the masses!